Most know the story by now. A couple of years ago, when Warner Brothers merged with Discovery, it was given the opportunity to write off some of its assets for tax purposes. That led to notable films, including a Scooby-Doo animated film and Batgirl, being destroyed in the name of the bottom line and capitalist greed.

Coyote vs Acme was also one of those films, but its release was secured by a fan campaign. Petitions, protests, angry Twitter posts, every tool in their arsenal was used to show that there was an appetite for this. After a very quick turnaround, the film was sold to Ketchup Entertainment for worldwide distribution, which finally released it last month.

After watching the film, I can’t help but feel that there wouldn’t have been much interest in it if it had been released by Warner Bros. Still, I am glad it finally got released, as it deserved one.

Coyote, tired of his gadgets endlessly failing him in his attempts to catch Roadrunner, heads to the big city. With the help of his lawyer, Kevin (Will Forte), and his aide, Paige (Lana Condor), he will attempt to sue the ACME Corporation.  

The film is an odd one; it sits in this weird audience where it doesn’t quite know who it’s for. It’s not afraid to be a courtroom-drama mystery, highlighting the capitalist greed of megacorporations (irony not lost there). Yet the typical Looney Tunes slapstick is still there, though the pauses between them are long enough to make the children in my screening quite restless.

That being said, I loved it. It made me nostalgic for my endless rewatches of Back in Action as a kid, starring Brendan Fraser. There is clearly a love for the characters here that shines through in the world where humans and cartoons live together, and small background gags and major slapstick set pieces work so well together that there is always something to laugh at.

The animation this time round is a bit more 3D, compared to the slightly flatter look of older live-action hybrid Tunes films. Even so, it keeps the essence of the Looney Tunes at its core. You can see the detailed, handcrafted elements in every close-up of the characters.

Will Forte does an incredible job here. Not only is he hilarious on his own, but acting opposite an animated Coyote is probably quite challenging, and the bond he forges here is believable and an incredible emotional heart of the film.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this one for slightly older kids and mid-20s kids at heart. It is a great story, both in the film and the journey to the screen, which makes it a great watch.

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